How to Choose the Best Interview Scheduling Software…..for you Part 4

Part 4: Interview Scheduling Pricing

What should you be looking for when choosing the right interview scheduling software? For the last several posts I’ve been trying to argue that although the answer to this will be different for everyone, it comes down to the following three questions:

Since I’ve so convincingly explained the first two (I hope), let’s now look at pricing. The first thing to do is to ask yourself how much your current interview scheduling costs you. Most people don’t know the answer to this even though this can be an enormous cost in some cases. I’m sure there is more than way to skin the interview scheduling costing cat but here is how I like to do it:

Average Hourly Salary of person who does the scheduling = AHS

Time (hours) it takes to schedule one interview = T

So if a Human Resources Assistant is paid $15.00 per hour and it takes 1 full hour of phone calls, return calls, request for confirmations, etc. to fully book one set of interviews we would have:

AHS ($15) X T (1) = $15 per interview

Doing the same calculation with the time it takes to schedule your interviews with the given interview scheduling tool and subtracting the difference should show the value you are getting for your interview scheduling dollar. Don’t forget to add in the cost of the interview scheduling tool though.

So in the case of Interviewer Assistant:

AHS ($15) X T (1/6) = $2.50

Without scheduler = $15

With Interview Assistant = $2.50

Monthly Interviewer Assistant Price = $12.50

Because the monthly price of Interviewer Assistant plus the cost to book one interview using Interviewer Assistant adds up to the total cost of scheduling one set of interviews the old way, in this example you would break even after you booked one set of interviews (with a monthly subscription to Interviewer Assistant). Obviously the more interviews you schedule the greater the incremental value of the scheduling tool will be. I would also add that it is unlikely to take a full 10 minutes to book your interview using Interviewer Assistant…but I like round numbers.This type of analysis is easy for anyone to do and although it’s not exactly steeped in scientific rigor, it does give you a starting point from which to begin this type of analysis. If anyone comes up with something earth-shatteringly better, please let me know.

The next pricing related question is what kind of pricing model makes sense for you? Do you want to pay by the number of interviews you create? How about the number of candidates you schedule? Both of those options seem strange and overly complicated to me… which is why Interviewer Assistant doesn’t offer them. Interviewer Assistant provides unlimited numbers of candidates and interviews with all subscriptions. This way you know how much your interview scheduling is going to cost and it won’t be dependent on variable numbers like total candidates or interviews.

Another important consideration for you is do you need a year round interview scheduling tool, or just something to help you with seasonal recruitment? No point in paying for interview scheduling software for a year if you are only scheduling twice yearly student internship interviews. Yearly vs monthly subscriptions should be a consideration.

When it comes to interview scheduling software with tiered packages and added/limited functionality depending on how much you pay… well, what I can say about that? It’s frustrating and annoying to figure out what that functionality really is and then decide what the incremental value of that feature is to you…within your recruitment context. Interviewer Assistant is always about simplicity first, so we just give you everything for the monthly or the yearly subscription. But either way, make sure you understand what you get before you commit to purchasing an interview scheduler.

Once you establish your cost to schedule interviews use that number to determine whether you need an interview scheduling tool (not everyone does) and which one makes the most sense for you.

Hopefully this review of pricing, in combination with the previous posts on simplicity and candidate experience will provide some help as you begin researching which interview scheduling software is right for you.